Transcript

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>> We're gonna protect our coal miners.>>

APPLAUSE

>> President Donald Trump promise to revitalize the US coal industry and the number of coal mining jobs did actually grow in 2017 but not by much. Government data seen by Rueters shows the coal industry added just 771 new jobs last year.

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And about two-thirds of coal producing states saw mining jobs dwindle. Overall, there were just under 55,000 coal miners working in the US last year.>> And that will eliminate another terrible job killing rule, saving many thousands of American jobs, especially in the mines, which I've been promising you.

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>> Trump has slashed environmental regulations he said were hampering coal mining and coal-fired energy plants, but those efforts have so far failed to change market forces. Electrical utilities have continued toward cheaper natural gas. According to data from the Mining Health and Safety Administration, West Virginia, Virginia, and Pennsylvania saw modest growth in coal jobs as companies opened new mining areas.

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But, elsewhere, Ohio, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, Texas, and Wyoming, all saw coal mining jobs drop. Overall, the number of US coal jobs is still at historic lows, at less than one-third the level since the mid-1980s.